Back and Forth and Back Again
by Diamondwillow
Summary: It's been a while since Danny saved the world from the disasteroid. A long LONG while. Everyone he has ever known was now gone and on top of everything else, he was the King of the Ghost Zone and Clockwork's apprentice. Now to get a better understanding of the timelines he must travel to multiple different alternate timelines and accomplish his tasks in each.
1. chapter 1

It's been a while since Danny saved the world from the disaster-oid. A long LONG while. Everyone he has ever known was now gone and on top of everything else, he was the King of the Ghost Zone and Clockwork's apprentice. Now to get a better understanding of the timelines he must travel to multiple different alternate timelines and accomplish his tasks in each. However, this seemed to be more difficult than the halfa first thought.

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 **I don't own Danny Phantom ok. Glad that's out of the way. Just try to enjoy the story.**

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Chapter 1 ~

Danny, for the fifth time that day, looked into one of the time portals that stood in the main room of Clockwork's tower. There was no denying it. He was bored.

Danny's crown floated crookedly above his head as he looked around the room for _something_ new to do. Just had to look left, then right, and after finding nothing, looking back left. To his relief, Clockwork was there where he hadn't been before.

"Oh good! So glad you're here! I bet you can guess what I want?" Danny rushed closer to his mentor with pleading eyes, his crown threatening to fall off.

"Yes, Daniel, I'm well aware of how bored you are monitoring the current timeline. However, I can't just send you off willy nilly to relieve yourself of your boredom." Danny slumped in posture as Clockwork gave a slight grin.

"Oh come on! You already know what's going to happen, so what's the point in keeping me here to watch it all play out?" Danny crossed his arms in defiance, the ring he wore shone brightly in the dimly lit room.

"I suppose that is for me to know and for you to find out, now isn't it?" Clockwork faced away from Danny and peered into the time stream that was open.

Danny, however, didn't want to just sit and wait. He decided to open a time stream at random and gaze at the events occoring in the ghostly screen. He had to admit though, watching everything play out right in front of him was exciting. Not nearly as exciting as actually being the one in the action, but close enough.

"Come to think of it," Clockwork paused and Danny turned to look at the Master of Time. "there are a few things you could do to better understand the different time streams."

"Like what?" Danny couldn't tell what he was thinking even after all the years he'd spent with him. Clockwork just gave a weak smile.

"Oh but I don't think you'd be up to such a _boring_ task." With Clockwork's repeatingly changing appearance it made it even harder to take the sarcasim seriously.

"Come on! Don't hold back on me like this!" Danny flew up to Clockwork once more. "Anything away from sitting and watching is better than this!"

The Time Master chuckled.

"So the halfa wants an adventure, does he?"

"Pleeeeaaaase!"

"Very well." Danny was about to jump with joy before Clockwork continued. "However, there are some very important rules that you really must follow."

"Of course! Anything!" Danny straightened up as he floated on equal grounds with Clockwork. He wanted to show how serious he was about being given such an opportunity like this.

"Unfortunately you will be left, in a sort of way, 'sitting and watching' with this task I am about to give you."

"Oh come on. If you were going to have me just sit and watch, then you could have just left me to watch the time stream. What _really_ am I going to do?"

"You will just be observing, for the most part. In this timeline some things do tend to go wrong and I want you there to be able to fix them."

"What kind of things?"

"In this timeline, you don't become half ghost like you did 112 years ago."

Danny flinched when he remembered how long it had actually been. Time just seemed to go by much differently when he was in the Ghost Zone.

"Do you mean some kind of alternate universe? Sounds like something out of a fanfiction."

"Don't let your imagination get ahead of you. I am well aware of how absurd it may sound, but believe me it is as real as your own timeline."

"So, what? Am I just going to watch how things could have been if I never had that accident? I'm pretty sure the world would be in chaos from all the ghost attacks."

"On the contrary, your Majesty. You'll be there, and with your influence you can keep your alternate self out of harm as he plays his own role." Clockwork paused for a moment, thinking of the right words to say. "You remember your ambitions when you were younger, don't you?"

"Of course," Danny answered back right away. "I wanted to be an astronaut."

"That is correct, and with nothing like ghost attacks occupying his time he will be able to accomplish his goals."

"So I just keep the ghosts at bay until I-he becomes an astronaut? Thats an awfuly long time, Clockwork."

"Yes, it is. However it gets even more complicated from here."

"How could it get any more complicated than it already is?"

"You'll be going into multiple different timelines during this mission. You'll only be tasked with dealing with the more powerful ghosts that your parents can't handle themselves. And if they can't figure it out you'll have to find another way of getting the low levels out of the hair of your alternate self. After one important task is completed in one realm you'll be transferred to the next to figure out and deal with another problem. You could end up going to one of the timelines only once while another one you would have to visit more frequently. Is this making any sense to you?"

"Uh, yeah I think so. Go back and forth between the timelines until all the problems are delt with and my alternate self accomplishes his goal."

"That is the basics of what you will be doing, however some timelines may require you to stop yourself. In what kind of way, I will not tell. This is to give you more experience after all. It would ruin the trip if I spoiled what was going to happen." Clockwork grinned seeing Danny mentally flip out from being kept in the dark. It was one of many things the Time Master enjoyed doing to his apprentice and King.

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 **So there you have it. The first chapter of this exciting adventure. I've never read a fanfiction like the one I'm about to write so I'm sure it's going to be a tough ride to hold onto. Yes Danny is 126 technically speaking. I couldn't have him go on such a journey with his loved ones still alive though. It would ruin the heart breaking moments I'm going to put him through. Oh woops. I've already said too much. Tell me if you want anymore and I just might have to do another chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I think the first chapter went really well so I might as well continue. Thanks for any reviews and if there are any questions or things you'd like me to clarify, I'll do it at the end of the next chapter.**

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~Chapter 2~

Danny looked into the time stream that he was about to enter. For the past hour or so, Clockwork had been drilling the rules he had to follow into his brain. As part of the rules, Danny wasn't allowed to tell anyone he was the King of the Ghost Zone, no one is to know he is a half ghost, and he wasn't allowed to mingle in the timeline's natural course unless it had to do with ghosts or the saftey of his alternate self. There were also a bunch of other random rules he had to follow but even as how excited and serious he was about this, he still couldn't remember every single thing his mentor had said. Luckly Clockwork was willing to send periodic reminders to him while he was there.

With his Crown and Ring set aside in the protection of the Time Master, Danny felt strangely bare. Even though he was never formal with his appearance it still felt like the two items were connected to him.

The time had come for him to leave these feelings. He told his farewells to Clockwork and stepped through the glowing threshold into the alternate world. It felt very similar to the times he had time traveled but this time was way more nerving, with nostalgia driving his mind to the edge.

When he appeared out of the portal he stood right outside of his old home. The sign shown just as brightly as he remebered when he was fourteen. His most recent memories of the sign had it torn up and rusted. The shine of the sign brought him a warm smile as he remembered how much he really missed the obsurdness of his home.

Turning invisible and intangible, he traveled to the lab in the basement of his former home. His entire family, including his alternate self, was there. Danny remembered this day. This was the day his parents did their first and only test run of the portal. The day he got his powers.

He observed as his alternate parents plugged power into the portal. It sparked a few times but quickly swirled into a massive green ghost portal. It was amazing. It looked just like the one in his timeline, but it was a sight to see as it came to life. There was one thing for sure, it was a heck of a lot better than being inside the thing as it activated.

The Fenton family celebrated the success much like how his family celebrated when they found it magically working the next day. The fudge was brought out to feast on along with sparkling apple cider. His parents were the ones celebrating the most. His alternate self and sister were mostly just satisfied with being able to enjoy the sugary sweets that were provided with the celebration.

He contiued to watch and observe. Nothing he didn't already know of happened. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Danny was tempted to fly off somewhere else to find something interesting to do, but remembered the warning he was given from Clockwork.

"Do not leave your alternate self alone. Whenever a ghost comes out of that portal you must be prepared to defend everyone you can."

Danny had to stay there until something came to him. It left him with very few options on what he wanted to do. The first thing he _did_ do was give his alternate self a nickname. Davy was a nickname he once was given. It seemed perfect at the moment. He couldn't quite remeber who had given him such a nickname, but being as he wasn't using it at the moment, he didn't mind.

It seemed like ages before anything had actually started happening. Davy was playing video games, Jazz was reading one of her first psychology books, and his parents were down in the lab making their ghost equipment.

He only was able to see it for a split second, but he thought he saw eyes gleaming out from the portal. Of course his parents didn't notice, however, that wasn't what bothered him. Danny doesn't remember any ghost that would or could watch from the portal and into the human world. Now he knew for sure what he was looking out for while in this timeline.

Danny wasn't able to dwell on this thought for long. He quickly began to feel the affects of another timeline jump and found himself, once more, in front of his house.

He took himself back to the lab to see the same scene he had just come from. They were testing out the portal. They plugged it in and began to spark, however unlike last time, it did not come to life.

This confused him. Surely if it didn't work he would be the one to become half ghost? Again, he was wrong. Not long after everyone left to continue their day, Jazz had a few friends over. Danny didn't recognise them at all, but left that fact alone as just another effect of an alternate timeline. All three went down to the lab and what happened next was something he was far too familiar with.

Jazz put on the Fenton-works hazmat suit. Jazz is the one who entered the unstable portal. Jazz was the one to endure the pain as it activated around her.

It was extremely unnerving to watch. It made him feel sick just to watch it happen. He knew that pain all too well. He knew what opportunities would be lost because this accident. Yet despite this fact, Danny was prepared to continue his mission, if not just for the chance to see what would happen.

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 **There ya have it. He made it to two seperate timelines in this chapter. Not a lot happened but it does set up for more stuff to happen in the future.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't have anything new to announce so on with** **the story.**

~Chapter 3~

Danny could only watch as he witnessed his alternate sister stumble out of the newly formed portal. She looked so much like he had when he got his powers.

Jasmine's teal eyes had turned into an icy pale blue and her red hair a silver gray. The ponytail she wore kept her thick hair out of her face as she passed out on the floor.

Danny wanted to rush to her side. He wanted to help sooth her, to tell her everything was going to be ok, but that would be interfering too much. His hero complex urged him to help her, yet he was able to keep it in check as her two friends came to her side instead.

They panicked. Nothing like this had ever happened before and their adolescent brains began jumping to conclusions. Danny didn't blame them though. Her skin was cold and she wasn't breathing. Anyone would assume their friend was just killed right in front of their eyes. He himself was also worried despite being confident that she would be ok.

He stayed floating where he was as he witnessed the exchange between the two friends. At the moment they were blaming each other for allowing their friend to go into the machine that caused her death. After they stopped blaming each other, they started blaming themselves. Tears were in their eyes as they still couldn't figure out what to do.

Then, like some kind of miracle, Jazz woke up. The two friends rushed to her side, crying apologies into their confused friend's suit. Honestly, it was a bit amusing to watch.

Danny smiled knowing she was going to be perfectly fine. He expected that her first ghost fight would be in about a month from now like his was. Then again, that ghost fight was caused by Sam's action of changing the school's lunch menu so it was highly possible that she could have a battle at any time and with any ghost from the ghost zone.

But now Danny was confused. Wasn't he suppose to be protecting his alternate self? With Jazz being the one with the powers, surely she could handle whatever problems come around like he had.

With all these thoughts going through his head, he almost didn't notice when a puff of blue smoke exited Jasmine's mouth. The two halfas made eye contact for what felt like an eternity, only breaking away when the only guy from the trio spoke up.

"Hey, Jazz. You ok?" He placed his hand onto her shoulder causing Jazz to come back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, Tom." Jazz looked at him and gave him a smile.

"What were you looking at?" This time the girl spoke up.

"I don't know. It just felt like someone was there. Watching us." Jazz took a breath, scanning the area where Danny was floating.

"Maybe you saw the ghost of your future self!" The girl teased, wiggling her fingers in a spooky manner.

"Katelyn, this is serious! I really do feel like we're being watched!"

Katelyn put her hands up to defend herself and took a step back away from Jazz as to give her more space.

"Alright, alright! You think we're being watched. That's the least of my worries. What I'm concered about is what happened to your look? You're like a completely different person now!" Katelyn gestured at how Jasmine's jumpsuit was now black, and how her eyes and hair had changed color.

Jazz looked down at herself to confirm what she said. She stood in shock as she just stared at herself.

"I need a mirror." Jazz said right out flat. With a hand out stretched, she waited as Katelyn rummaged through her bag to pull out a small hand mirror and placed it in her palm.

She stared into her own reflection for a long time. Danny wasn't sure how long because he was soon feeling the effects once again of changing timelines. He took one last look at Jazz and left as quickly as he came.

He had a strong feeling he was back in the first timeline he appeared in. To keep himself from becoming confused, he had labled this timeline A1 and the other one A2.

It wasn't day time any more, though. All the lights were off and the streets were bare. He flew into his house and checked on everyone. They were all asleep in their beds apart from Davy, his alternate self. He was fast asleep at his desk with undone homework scattered over the top.

Danny laughed as he remembered his late nights trying to get school work done after hours upon hours of ghost fighting. Though this time he was sure his lack of complete work was due to video games. Danny looked over Davy's shoulder at the nearly finished history homework.

"Tsk Tsk." Danny shook his head. "Shouldn't of fallen asleep in Mr. Lancers class. World War Two is what really ended the Great Depression, not FDR's programs."

Danny couldn't remember doing this exact assignment, but had already learned all there was to history, past and future, from Clockwork. He knew this kind of stuff like the back of his hand by now.

And that gave him an idea. He wasn't suppose to interfere in any negative way, however Clockwork never said anything about helping his alternate self to pass a history test.

Danny entered Davy's head and located his current dream. He was flying a NASA rocket to the Moon. It's quite ironic how this will soon become a 'dream come true'. Subtly, he started changing the dream to fit his recent history homework. It was, with any luck, going to help him remember more for that pop quiz he was more than sure Mr. Lancer was going to pull out the next day.

After forming it how he liked, Danny left the dream and floated next to Davy. He wasn't used to watching himself like this. It sent shivers down his spine just how unnatural it was to be watching yourself sleep. It made himself tired just watching him. Come to think of it, Danny hasn't slept in years since he became Clockwork's apprentice.

"Maybe just a short nap wouldn't hurt." Danny let out a short yawn just before checking to see if his invisibility would hold until he woke up. Satisfied with his abilities, he let his center of gravity drop him on the ceiling. He didn't want to risk sleeping on the ground in the event of someone tripped over him. And with that final thought, he slept.

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 **Being as everything seems to make sense so far, there are no questions as of yet. If there are any I'll answer them at the end of the chapter and not at the beginning. I dont want to distract you from the story more than I have to.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks so much for all the positive reviews! It means a lot and I hope to continue writing well thought out chapters. Just make sure to remind me if I ever start straying from the point.**

~Chapter 4~

Danny awoke to a frantic Davy. He had slept through his alarm. They both had. As the saying goes- well actually he couldn't remember the saying, but he was sure it was something close to 'like minds think alike'.

Davy was rushing to stuff all the paper he could into his 'black hole' of a bag. He nearly tripped over all the dirty laundry as he ran out his bedroom door to grab a quick bite from the kitchen. Of course Danny just followed silently behind.

Not long into the meal, his father, Jack Fenton, came in to show off their latest invention. Danny recognized it almost right away telling him quite a bit of time had passed since he was last here. Possibly two or even three weeks, tops.

"Lookie here Danny my boy! Our latest invention, the Fenton Finder!" He held up the device with his gloved hands over his head.

Immediately he turned it on and followed the tracker right in front of me. He made sure to circle around and pinpoint my location. Jack just looked confused for a moment.

"Either this thing is broken or I need an invention to make them visible!" He looked quizzically before dashing to the basement to do who knows what.

Davy shivered, a little disturbed at how odd and weird his parents were. Danny remembered when he used to feel like that. Always avoiding their supernatural conversations and obsessing over everything NASA was a daily routine back then.

His thoughts were once again cut off when he noticed Jazz walk into the room. Her elegant walk could keep him in a smile for weeks even though his younger self would disagree. However, it's one thing to see them every day and another thing to completely outlive them. With immortality you learn to cherrish the little things.

"Hey, Jazz? Can you give me a lift? I'm not sure if I've missed the bus or not." Danny set his spoon into his now empty bowl. Jazz looked over at him with a smile.

"Of course. It's a silly question to ask really. As your big sister, I want to make sure you are well educated. Bus or not, we are getting you to that school!" As Jazz finished her monologue, Davy just stared are her trying to hold back a laugh.

"Jazz, you're too young to be talking so old fashioned." Davy was smiling and Danny had to try with all his might not to let out his fit of laughter.

"The words of the people before us can be very wise, Danny, so you better stop smiling before I change my mind." Jazz crossed her arms as Davy gave her an apology.

The drive to the school was filled with small talk of what they had plans for after school. Danny wasn't too interested since he was just going to follow Davy around anyway.

Now school was were it started getting intetesting. The two siblings went their separate ways and Danny continued to follow Davy. He met up with his friends Sam and Tucker. They talked about normal teenager things, something Danny would have loved if he didn't have his powers.

Everything was normal until lunch, where Sam reveals she got the menu changed. Of course Tuckers fit was hilarious, but he knew some trouble was bound to come his way. Right on que, as Davy was about to take a bite of the mud pie Dash had pulled out, Danny's ghost sense went off. He didn't want to see himself eat the disgusting topsoil, so he caused a distraction himself. Nothing too serious or scary. He just pulled the fire alarm.

It wasn't necessary but if he wanted to get rid of the Lunch Lady without being seen, he needed people out of the way anyway. It's better to be safe than sorry. He took his caustion and revealed himself when he was alone with his ghostly target.

"Hello there, madam." Danny gave a polite bow.

"Hello sweetie, do you know who changed the menu? It's suppose to be meatloaf, but I don't see any meatloaf." The Lunch Lady answered back in a calm and sweet old lady voice.

"Oh yes, the menu was temporarily changed to try more exotic foods. I assure you, the menu will be back to normal in no time."

"Oh dear, that simply can not do! The menus never changed!" She continued to give her kind voice but Danny could tell she was pretty close to the edge.

"You are very right, however change is how people grow. You do agree that meat helps to make you grow stronger, yes? Then you should allow then to grow their tastes in other foods as well and grow as a society."

The Lunch Lady was speechless. Her entire plan to teach these kids a lesson now seemed a waste.

"Alright, dear. I suppose I'll let them try it for now. But you can't expect me to leave this issue alone. Meat is very good for you!" The Lunch Lady paused and was about to leave before she turned around to face Danny. "And what is your name? I've never seen you around the Ghost Zone before."

"You can call me Phantom. You won't see me around much but I will be sure to be back to say hello." Danny gave her a kind smile.

If he was the same nieve kid when he first got his powers, he wouldn't have hesitated to fight her or any other ghost that shows up. But after years of being their king and ruling over them, he learned to see how to get on their good sides and to see past the past and look forward to the future. It was kinda cliche to think, but thats just how it worked out.

The familiar feeling of Timeline jumping began to come upon him once more. He called a farewell to the ghost lady before disappearing out of her time. He reappeared in a new timeline. A3, as in Alternate number 3, was what this one was going to be.

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 **I've tried to make Danny as little OOC as I could but he's kinda a different person than he was 112 years ago, its a little hard not to change in that frame of time. Of course he'll still love jokes and puns and witty banter but he won't be using them to fight his battles a lot of the time. And there will be fighting for sure, there's no avoiding that. And one last thing, please forgive me. I'm terrible at witty banter so I might not always be able to come up with something for him to say.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Things are gonna start getting exciting in this chapter!** **Thank you once again for all the wonderful reviews.**

~Chapter 5~

Danny was back in the lab. It was clear that the portal was supposedly not working as he could see his two friends and alternate self standing right outside the portal. His alternate self looked like he was getting ready to go in.

Once again, Danny was confused. These are the events that occurred in his own timeline. This shouldn't have been one he was supposed to watch. Yet he continued to watch anyway.

The scenes played out as he remembered them. He entered the portal, accidentally turned it on, and went through an afterlife of pain. But then things didn't add up. He passed out on the floor coming out of the activated portal, but wasn't changed in the slightest, apart from the obvious burn marks on his suit, skin, and hair. This was wrong.

Sam and Tucker rushed over to him and so did Danny. They were trying to get him to wake up, but Danny checked for his sign of life. He reached out with his hand and felt for his soul.

It was lifeless...

He was dead. He was actually dead.

Danny felt like he was going to cry. This could have been him. This could have been his actual self that perished.

But he was suppose to make his wish come true! He was suppose to become the astronaut he dreamed of becoming! Danny had to do something.

Danny felt for the phone that he knew would be in Tuckers back pocket, and with some ghostly influence, made it seem like Tucker had butt dialed 911.

When they picked up and started talking, both of the friends heard the voice of the calm lady. Tucker pulled it out and stared at the number, hesitant to answer. However, another glance at the dead body in front of him urged him to speak.

Within minutes an ambulance had arrived. A whole medical team filled the lab as they began to resuscitate the dead boy. Everyone let out their breath, they didn't know they were holding, when Danny's alternate self coughed and began breathing again. He was still unconscious though.

Maddie rode in the ambulance with her son to the hospital while Jack took the two friends home in the FFAV. They had wanted to go with him and make sure he was alright but Jack insisted that their parents would want to know what had happened before any visits were made. They didn't agrue any further.

Danny didn't want to call this version of himself Davy. It was more for what he wanted to call his powerless selves but not what he wanted to call his self that almost died completely. Unlike Danny, who was half ghost, he was literally half dead. He was teetering on the tightrope between the two lives and could fall into either if given the push in either direction.

No, Danny would not call this one Davy. Instead he would simply call him One. He was used to being called The Great One by Frosbite and his tribe but The Great One fit One more than Danny. After all, he survived what he could have died from. Even though Danny was half ghost, he couldn't fully imagine how it would be if he actually died since ghosts aren't actually ghosts. In the Ghost language, Ghost is the closest translation they could get to what they actually are. Danny didn't want to dwell on that thought though.

Danny stayed with One and Maddie all night. He wouldn't dare fall alseep in the case something was to happen to One to cause him to tip over the edge into the afterlife. The only thing he dare to do was watch One's chest rise and fall throughout the night. Every now and then he'd see an employee walk by the door, but no one disturbed them as they slept.

When morning finally arrived, doctors and nurses had been in and out gathering information from the mother. They almost didn't realize when One began to stir. Maddie was the first to notice and was by his side in an instant and the doctor came soon after to check on his vital signs. It seemed that everything was going to be ok for now.

But Danny couldn't help but think that something was going to go wrong. It's too bad the magical powers of Time itself had to drag him away. Danny resisted just a little, not wanting to leave One's side. He gave into the pull, though, when he remembered he would be back. He would be back when One needed Danny the most.

Danny now had to put A3 out of his mind so he could focus on the current timeline. The feeling of A2 came to him and Danny found himself watching Jazz fight off the Lunch Lady. Her two friends, Tom and Kat, stood off to the side with no way to help.

Danny noticed Davy was near his parents. They were arguing about something. He wanted to see how the fight was going to play out but knew his alternate self was his top priority.

Davy was trying to convince his parents that he wasn't a ghost. Danny wasn't sure what caused his parents to think that but his parents had ways to amaze him. Davy was really upset though. He continually brought up the point that he just wanted a normal teenage life and that ghosts probably didn't even exist.

They argued a bit longer, and since Davy didn't have the same smarts as his sister did, he wasn't going anywhere fast. So he did the most teenager thing possible. He just walked away. Davy, along with his parents, hadn't noticed the big fight going on yet. Being completely oblivious, he nearly got crushed by a sheet of metal that was torn off of some vehicle. With some grand ghostly influence, Danny stopped that from happening. Jazz hadn't even realized that her brother almost died since she was so preoccupied.

And speaking of preoccupied, Danny hasn't noticed Jazz had her own insignia on her suit. It wasn't a J like Danny excepted though. It was a weird looking S with a P in each loop. He couldn't even imagine what kind of name she had given herself. She had a tendency to call things something based on their look or powers than their actual name. It could be some thing completely obnoxious for all he knew.

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 **Oh what an odd chapter, that was. If this didn't make you almost want to cry then future chapters will. Also, Jazz's super hero name does have an S and a P in it like Danny has a D and a P in his. If you're curious to what it looks like just PM me and I'll send you a picture of all the rough drafts of the insignia I've done along with fanart of Danny and Jazz in their hero forms. It took me quite a long time to come up with a good way to make her insignia so please bare with me.** **Also if you want to try to guess her name, then be my guest!**


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